Reducing control channel overhead in advanced networks

ABSTRACT

Controlling and reducing overhead in control channels in 5G or other next generation communication systems is provided herein. In connection with a data transmission between a device and a network node device, an overhead management component (OMC) can analyze one or more factors associated with the device, including speed or Doppler metric(s) of the device, type of service associated with the device, historical HARQ statistics for the device, configured threshold value for CSI estimation, device capability regarding redundancy version support, or other factor(s). Based on analysis results, OMC can determine whether to utilize a single redundancy version state or a multiple redundancy versions state. If the single redundancy version state is selected, OMC can generate control information that does not include redundancy version information, the control information being communicated via a control channel. OMC can communicate RRC signal to the device to indicate the determined redundancy version state.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject patent application is a continuation of, and claims priorityto each of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/852,899, filed Apr. 20,2020, and entitled “REDUCING CONTROL CHANNEL OVERHEAD IN 5G OR OTHERNEXT GENERATION NETWORKS,” which is a continuation of, and claimspriority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/932,258 (now U.S. Pat.No. 10,680,778), filed Feb. 16, 2018, and entitled “REDUCING CONTROLCHANNEL OVERHEAD IN 5G OR OTHER NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS,” theentireties of which applications are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates generally to communications networks, andfor example, to reducing control channel overhead in advanced networks,e.g., 5G or other next generation networks.

BACKGROUND

To meet the significant demand for data centric applications, ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) systems and systems that employone or more aspects of the specifications of the Fourth Generation (4G)standard for wireless communications will be extended to a FifthGeneration (5G) standard for wireless communications. Unique challengesexist to provide levels of service associated with forthcoming 5G, orother next generation, standards for wireless communication.

The above-described description is merely intended to provide acontextual overview relating to communication networks, and is notintended to be exhaustive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting systemthat can control overhead for a control channel in a communicationnetwork, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of an example downlink control channelthat includes a redundancy version field and can be employed whenutilizing the multiple redundancy versions state, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 3 presents a block diagram of an example downlink control channel300 that does not include a redundancy version field or redundancyversion information, with respect to codewords of a data transmission,and can be employed when utilizing the single redundancy version state,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting messagesequence flow chart for a downlink data transmission in 5G systems inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein;

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of an example transmitter on thetransmission side of a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)communications system with N_(t) transmit antennas, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example code blocksegmentation, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter;

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of an example circular buffer comprisingfour redundancy versions, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 8 presents an example state diagram that illustrates the respectivestates (e.g., respective redundancy version states) between which thecommunication network can switch to facilitate reducing overheadassociated with a control channel in connection with data transmission,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter;

FIG. 9 presents a diagram of an example graph illustrating the frameerror rate (FER) for DCI transmission using a multiple redundancyversions capable DCI and a single-state redundancy version DCI, inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example, non-limiting network node device thatcan control and reduce overhead for a control channel in a communicationnetwork, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example, non-limiting method for controllingoverhead for a control channel in a communication network, in accordancewith various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 12 illustrates another example, non-limiting method for controllingoverhead for a control channel in a communication network, in accordancewith various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example block diagram of an example mobilehandset operable to engage in a system architecture that facilitateswireless communications according to one or more embodiments describedherein; and

FIG. 14 illustrates an example block diagram of an example computeroperable to engage in a system architecture that facilitates wirelesscommunications according to one or more embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings in which example embodiments areshown. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the various embodiments. However, the variousembodiments can be practiced without these specific details (and withoutapplying to any particular network environment or standard).

Discussed herein are various aspects that relate to reducing controlchannel overhead in 5G or other next generation networks. For example,as discussed herein Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) performancecan be improved in connection with data communications. In anotherexample, the disclosed subject matter can enhance power efficiency, asthe disclosed subject matter can reduce or minimize the amount of powerutilized for transmitting control information via a control channel(e.g., a downlink control channel, or an uplink control channel). Thepower saved with respect to transmission of control information via thecontrol channel can be utilized, for instance, for data transmission viathe data traffic channel. As still another example, with improved datatransmission, the disclosed subject matter can significantly improve thelink and system throughput.

The various aspects described herein can relate to new radio, which canbe deployed as a standalone radio access technology or as anon-standalone radio access technology assisted by another radio accesstechnology, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), for example. It should benoted that although various aspects and embodiments have been describedherein in the context of 5G, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), and/or Long Term Evolution (LTE), or other next generationnetworks, the disclosed aspects are not limited to 5G, a UMTSimplementation, and/or an LTE implementation as the techniques can alsobe applied in 3G, 4G, or LTE systems. For example, aspects or featuresof the disclosed embodiments can be exploited in substantially anywireless communication technology. Such wireless communicationtechnologies can include UMTS, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),Wi-Fi, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced GPRS, Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP), LTE, Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2)Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), EvolvedHigh Speed Packet Access (HSPA+), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access(HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Zigbee, or anotherIEEE 802.XX technology. Additionally, substantially all aspectsdisclosed herein can be exploited in legacy telecommunicationtechnologies. Further, the various aspects can be utilized with anyRadio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-RAT system where the mobiledevice operates using multiple carriers (e.g., LTE Frequency DivisionDuplexing (FDD)/Time-Division Duplexing (TDD), Wideband Code DivisionMultiplexing Access (WCMDA)/HSPA, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM)/GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Wi Fi,Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), WiMax, CDMA2000, and so on).

As used herein, “5G” can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access.Accordingly, systems, methods, and/or machine-readable storage media forreducing control channel overhead in 5G systems, and other nextgeneration systems, can be desired. As used herein, one or more aspectsof a 5G network can comprise, but is not limited to, data rates ofseveral tens of megabits per second (Mbps) supported for tens ofthousands of users; at least one gigabit per second (Gbps) that can beoffered simultaneously to tens of users (e.g., tens of workers on thesame office floor); several hundreds of thousands of simultaneousconnections supported for massive sensor deployments; spectralefficiency that can be significantly enhanced compared to 4G;improvement in coverage relative to 4G; signaling efficiency that can beenhanced compared to 4G; and/or latency that can be significantlyreduced compared to LTE.

With further regard to MIMO technology, MIMO technology can be anadvanced antenna technique utilized to improve spectral efficiency and,thereby, boost overall system capacity. Spectral efficiency (alsoreferred to as spectrum efficiency or bandwidth efficiency) refers to aninformation rate that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in acommunication system.

For MIMO, a notation (M×N) can be utilized to represent the MIMOconfiguration in terms of a number of transmit antennas (M) and a numberof receive antennas (N) on one end of the transmission system. Examplesof MIMO configurations used for various technologies can include: (2×1),(1×2), (2×2), (4×2), (8×2) and (2×4), (4×4), (8×4). The configurationsrepresented by (2×1) and (1×2) can be special cases of MIMO known astransmit and receive diversity.

In some cases, MIMO systems can significantly increase the data carryingcapacity of wireless communications systems. Further, MIMO can be usedfor achieving diversity gain, which refers to an increase insignal-to-interference ratio due to a diversity scheme and, thus, canrepresent how much the transmission power can be reduced when thediversity scheme is introduced, without a corresponding performanceloss. MIMO also can be used to achieve spatial multiplexing gain, whichcan be realized when a communications system is transmitting differentstreams of data from the same radio resource in separate spatialdimensions (e.g., data is sent/received over multiple channels, linkedto different pilot frequencies, over multiple antennas). Spatialmultiplexing gain can result in capacity gain without the need foradditional power or bandwidth. In addition, MIMO can be utilized torealize beamforming gain. Due to the benefits achieved, MIMO can be anintegral part of the third generation wireless system and the fourthgeneration wireless system. In addition, 5G systems also will employmassive MIMO systems (e.g., hundreds of antennas at the transmitter sideand receiver side). Typically, with a (N_(t), N_(r)), where N_(t)denotes the number of transmit antennas and N_(r) denotes the number ofreceive antennas, the peak data rate can multiple with a factor of N_(t)over single antenna systems in a rich scattering environment.

To meet the significant demand for data centric applications, 3GPPsystems and systems that employ one or more aspects of thespecifications of the 4G standard for wireless communications will beextended to a 5G standard for wireless communications. Some uniquechallenges exist to provide levels of service associated withforthcoming 5G, or other next generation, standards for wirelesscommunication.

With regard to data communications in 5G (or other next generation)communication networks, accurate control channel reception can bedesirable (e.g., needed) for decoding data traffic channels. As aresult, it can be preferable to use more parity bits for encoding thecontrol channel payload to improve accuracy and reliability of controlinformation communicated via the control channel. However, increasingreliability by adding more parity bits can increase the signalingoverhead of the control channel, and consequently, the number ofresource elements utilized for data transmission will be less. This, inturn, can undesirably reduce the throughput and the capacity of the NRsystem. It can therefore be desirable to reduce signaling overhead ofthe control channels to facilitate enabling additional resources to beavailable for data transmission to achieve desirable (e.g., suitable,acceptable, or improved) data throughput and capacity of the NR system.

To that end, controlling and reducing overhead in control channels in 5Gor other next generation communication systems is disclosed herein. Thedisclosed subject matter can employ efficient mechanisms and techniquesfor transmitting control information (e.g., downlink controlinformation, uplink control information) using a reduced amount ofoverhead, as compared to other techniques for communicating data.

In connection with a data transmission between a device (e.g.,communication device) and a network node device (e.g., base station), anoverhead management component can determine a redundancy version stateof a set (e.g., group) of redundancy version states that is to beutilized in connection with the data transmission based at least in parton one or more characteristics associated with the device associatedwith (e.g., communicatively connected to) a communication network viathe network node device. The set of redundancy version states cancomprise, for example, a single redundancy version state that can beassociated with utilization of a single redundancy version (e.g., asingle redundancy version value) in connection with the datatransmission, and a multiple redundancy versions state that can beassociated with utilization of multiple redundancy versions (e.g.,multiple redundancy version values) in connection with the datatransmission.

To facilitate determining the redundancy version state to employ, theoverhead management component can analyze one or more characteristics orfactors associated with the device, including speed or Doppler metric(s)of the device, type of service associated with the device, historicalHARQ statistics for the device, configured threshold value for CSIestimation, device capability regarding redundancy version support,and/or another factor(s). Based at least in part on the results of theanalysis, the overhead management component can determine whether toutilize the single redundancy version state or the multiple redundancyversions state, in accordance with defined overhead management criteria.

If the single redundancy version state is determined and selected by theoverhead management component, the overhead management component cangenerate control information that does not include redundancy versioninformation, wherein the control information can be communicated to thedevice via a control channel (e.g., a downlink control channel). Forinstance, when the single redundancy version state is selected, theoverhead management component can employ a control channel structurethat does not include a field for redundancy version. By not including afield for redundancy version in the control channel, and by notincluding redundancy version information in the control information, theoverhead management component can reduce the amount of overhead (e.g.,reduce the amount of control information) for the control channel.

If the multiple redundancy versions state is determined and selected bythe overhead management component, the overhead management component cangenerate control information that does include redundancy versioninformation, wherein the control information can be communicated to thedevice via the control channel. For example, when the multipleredundancy versions state is selected, the overhead management componentcan employ a control channel structure that does include a field forredundancy version.

In response to determining the redundancy version state to employ forthe data transmission (and prior to communicating the controlinformation via the control channel), the overhead management componentcan communicate an appropriate (e.g., corresponding) control signal,such as a radio resource control (RRC) signal, to the device to indicatethe determined redundancy version state to use for the data transmissionbetween the device and the network node device. For instance, if thesingle redundancy version state is determined and selected by theoverhead management component, the overhead management component cangenerate a first type (e.g., single state) of control signal, which canrelate and correspond to the single redundancy version state, and cancommunicate the first type of control signal to the device to facilitateindicating, to the device, that a single redundancy version is to beutilized for the data transmission, and also can indicate that noredundancy version information will be included in the controlinformation communicated via the control channel in connection with thedata transmission.

If the multiple redundancy versions state is determined and selected bythe overhead management component, the overhead management component cangenerate a second type (e.g., multiple state) of control signal, whichcan relate and correspond to the multiple redundancy versions state, andcan communicate the second type of control signal to the device tofacilitate indicating, to the device, that multiple redundancy versionsare to be utilized for the data transmission, and also can indicate thatredundancy version information will be included in the controlinformation communicated via the control channel in connection with thedata transmission.

The disclosed subject matter, employing the overhead managementcomponent and techniques disclosed herein, can reduce the amount ofoverhead for a control channel (e.g., reduce the amount of controlinformation communicated via the control channel) in connection withdata transmissions, and can enhance power efficiency, as the disclosedsubject matter can reduce or minimize the amount of power utilized fortransmitting control information via the control channel (e.g., adownlink control channel, or an uplink control channel). The power savedwith respect to transmission of control information via the controlchannel can be utilized, for instance, for transmission of data via thedata traffic channel. As still another example, with improved datatransmission, the disclosed subject matter can significantly improve thelink and system throughput for the communication network.

These and other aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matterwill now be described with respect to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system100 that can control overhead for a control channel in a communicationnetwork, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. The system 100 can comprise a set of networknodes, such as network node device 102, that can be part of thecommunication network to facilitate communication of information betweendevices (e.g., communication device), such as, for example, device 104,that can be associated with (e.g., communicatively connected to) thecommunication network. In some embodiments, the network node device 102can be a base station or other type of network node (e.g., radio networknode) that can be associated with (e.g., communicatively connected to)and serve the device 104 (as depicted), or can be connected to anothernetwork node that can be connected to and communication with the device104. The communication network, including the network node device 102,can employ MIMO technology to facilitate data communications betweendevices (e.g., network node device 102, device 104, . . . ) in thecommunication network.

As used herein, the terms “network node device” and “network device” canbe interchangeable with (or include) a network, a network controller orany number of other network components. Further, as utilized herein, thenon-limiting term radio network node, or network node (e.g., networkdevice, network node device) can be used herein to refer to any type ofnetwork node serving communications devices and/or connected to othernetwork nodes, network elements, or another network node from which thecommunications devices can receive a radio signal. In cellular radioaccess networks (e.g., universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS)networks), network devices can be referred to as base transceiverstations (BTS), radio base station, radio network nodes, base stations,NodeB, eNodeB (e.g., evolved NodeB), and so on. In 5G terminology, thenetwork nodes can be referred to as gNodeB (e.g., gNB) devices. Networkdevices also can comprise multiple antennas for performing varioustransmission operations (e.g., MIMO operations). A network node cancomprise a cabinet and other protected enclosures, an antenna mast, andactual antennas. Network devices can serve several cells, also calledsectors, depending on the configuration and type of antenna. Examples ofnetwork nodes or radio network nodes (e.g., the network node device 102)can include but are not limited to: NodeB devices, base station (BS)devices, access point (AP) devices, TRPs, and radio access network (RAN)devices. The network nodes also can include multi-standard radio (MSR)radio node devices, comprising: an MSR BS, a gNodeB, an eNode B, anetwork controller, a radio network controller (RNC), a base stationcontroller (BSC), a relay, a donor node controlling relay, a BTS, an AP,a transmission point, a transmission node, a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), aRemote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), andthe like.

The device 104 also can be referred to as a mobile device, communicationdevice, or mobile communication device. The term “mobile device” can beinterchangeable with (or include) a user equipment (UE) or otherterminology. Mobile device (or user equipment) can refer to any type ofwireless device that can communicate with a radio network node in acellular or mobile communication system. Examples of mobile devices caninclude, but are not limited to, a target device, a device to device(D2D) UE, a machine type UE or a UE capable of machine to machine (M2M)communication, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet or pad(e.g., an electronic tablet or pad), a mobile terminal, a cellularand/or smart phone, a computer (e.g., a laptop embedded equipment (LEE),a laptop mounted equipment (LME), or other type of computer), a dongle(e.g., a Universal Serial Bus (USB) dongle), an electronic gamingdevice, electronic eyeglasses, headwear, or bodywear (e.g., electroniceyeglasses, headwear, or bodywear having wireless communicationfunctionality), a device associated or integrated with a vehicle, and soon.

It is noted that the various aspects of the disclosed subject matterdescribed herein can be applicable to single carrier as well as tomulticarrier (MC) or carrier aggregation (CA) operation of the mobiledevice. The term carrier aggregation (CA) also can be referred to (e.g.,interchangeably called) “multi-carrier system,” “multi-cell operation,”“multi-carrier operation,” “multi-carrier” transmission and/orreception. In addition, the various aspects discussed can be applied forMulti RAB (radio bearers) on some carriers (e.g., data plus speech issimultaneously scheduled).

The network node device 102 can comprise a communicator component 106that can include a transmitter component 108 and a receiver component110, wherein the transmitter component 108 can communicate informationto other devices, such as the device 104, and wherein the receivercomponent 110 can receive information from other devices, such as thedevice 104. The communicator component 106 also can comprise an overheadmanagement component 112 that can control overhead in a control channel114 (e.g., downlink control channel) associated with the transmittercomponent 108 and/or a control channel 116 (e.g., uplink controlchannel) associated with the receiver component 110, in accordance withdefined overhead management criteria. For instance, the overheadmanagement component 112 can determine instances where controlinformation can be reduced, for example, by not including redundancyversion information (e.g., redundancy version value) in the controlinformation being communicated via the control channel 114 (or controlchannel 116), with respect to data communications between the networknode device 102 and the device 104, in accordance with the definedoverhead management criteria, as more fully described herein. Theoverhead management component 112 also can determine other instanceswhere it can be desirable to include redundancy version information inthe control information being communicated via the control channel 114(or control channel 116) with respect to data communications between thenetwork node device 102 and the device 104, in accordance with thedefined overhead management criteria, as more fully described herein.

It is to be appreciated and understood that, while certain aspects andembodiments are disclosed herein with regard to downlink datatransmissions for MIMO systems, the same principle, and same or similartechniques, of the disclosed subject matter can be applicable to uplinkdata transmissions and systems, and side link data transmissions andsystems.

In connection with, for example, a downlink data transmission, thenetwork node device 102 can communicate cell specific or UE specificreference signals to the device 104. The device 104 can analyze the cellspecific or UE specific reference signals, and can determine (e.g.,compute) channel estimates and parameters for use in channel stateinformation (CSI) reporting in connection with the downlink datatransmission based at least in part on the results of analyzing the cellspecific or UE specific reference signals and/or other information. Thedevice 104 can generate the CSI report, which can comprise, for example,a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix index (PMI), rankinformation (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator, and/or beam specificinformation (e.g., beam indicator). Upon request from the network (e.g.,the network node device 102 or other network node) aperiodically or perperiodic reporting, the device 104 can communicate the CSI report to thenetwork node device 102 via a feedback channel.

A network scheduler (not shown) of or associated with the network nodedevice 102 can analyze and use the information in the CSI report and/orother information to determine and select parameters for scheduling(e.g., scheduling of transmission of data) for the device 104, based atleast in part on the results of analyzing the CSI report and/or theother information. The parameters determined for downlink transmissioncan comprise, for example, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), power,physical resource blocks (PRBs), and/or other desired parameters, asmore fully described herein. These parameters (e.g., schedulingparameters) can be part of the control information (e.g., downlinkcontrol information (DCI)) that can be provided (e.g., communicated) tothe device 104 to facilitate scheduling and execution of the datatransmission for the device 104.

In connection with generating the control information, to facilitatecontrolling and/or reducing overhead for the control channel 114 (e.g.,downlink control channel), the overhead management component 112 candetermine a redundancy version state of a set of redundancy versionstates that is to be utilized in connection with the data transmissionbased at least in part on one or more characteristics or factorsassociated with the device associated with (e.g., communicativelyconnected to) a communication network via the network node device. Theset of redundancy version states can comprise, for example, a singleredundancy version state, which can be associated with utilization of asingle redundancy version (e.g., a single redundancy version value) inconnection with the data transmission, and a multiple redundancyversions state that can be associated with utilization of multipleredundancy versions (e.g., multiple redundancy version values) inconnection with the data transmission.

To facilitate determining the redundancy version state to employ, theoverhead management component 112 can analyze one or morecharacteristics or factors associated with the device, including a speedor Doppler metric(s) of the device, a type of service associated withthe device, historical HARQ statistics for the device, a configuredthreshold value for CSI estimation, device capability regardingredundancy version support, and/or another factor(s).

As disclosed, one performance criteria (e.g., one characteristic orfactor) for determining between the respective redundancy versionstates, and the respective HARQ techniques associated therewith, can beto obtain the speed or Doppler metric of the device 104. The overheadmanagement component 112, or another component of or associated with thenetwork node device 102, can obtain or determine the speed metric and/orDoppler metric for the device 104. If the speed of the device 104 isstatic or substantially static (e.g., is not varying in a substantialamount), there can be a relatively high probability that thetransmission pass rate is high, that is, the majority of packets pass inthe first transmission (e.g., the first transmission with the redundancyversion (RV) value of RV0). This can indicate that it may not benecessary to indicate the redundancy version explicitly as the networknode device 102 and the device 104 can have the common understating thatthe first transmission is always RV0.

Accordingly, the overhead management component 112 (or another networkcomponent) can determine the speed metric or Doppler metric of thedevice 104 based at least in part on the result of analyzing information(e.g., speed or Doppler related information) relating to the device 104.If the overhead management component 112 determines that the speedmetric or Doppler metric is static or at least substantially static, theoverhead management component 112 can determine that the singleredundancy version state is to be employed for the data transmission, asopposed to the multiple redundancy versions state, or at least determinethat such analysis results indicate that the single redundancy versionstate is to be employed for the data transmission (e.g., wherein furtheranalysis of other characteristics, factors, or performance criteria canbe performed), in accordance with the defined overhead managementcriteria.

If the overhead management component 112 determines that the speedmetric or Doppler metric is not desirably (e.g., suitably, acceptably)static or substantially static, the overhead management component 112can determine that the multiple redundancy versions state is to beemployed for the data transmission, as opposed to the single redundancyversion state, or at least can determine that such analysis resultsindicate that the multiple redundancy versions state is to be employedfor the data transmission (e.g., wherein further analysis of othercharacteristics, factors, or performance criteria can be performed), inaccordance with the defined overhead management criteria.

Another performance criteria (e.g., another characteristic or factor)for determining between the respective redundancy version states, andthe respective HARQ techniques associated therewith, can be the type ofservice(s) or application(s) utilized with respect to the device 104. 5Gsystems can support a number of different types of services, includingenhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra reliable low latencycommunication (URLLC), and massive machine type of communication (mMTC)services, applications, and systems. For URLLC applications, thereliability with reduced latency can be relatively significant (e.g.,most or relatively important), while for nMTC, coverage can berelatively significant. Accordingly, the overhead management component112 determine which type(s) of service or application(s) is beingemployed in connection with the device 104. Based at least in part onthe type(s) or application(s) being employed, the overhead managementcomponent 112 can determine which of the redundancy version states toutilize for the data transmission with respect to the device 104.

For example, for URLLC and/or mMTC services or applications, theoverhead management component 112 can determine that the singleredundancy version state is to be used for the control channel 114 forthe data transmission, or at least can determine that the employment ofURLLC and/or mMTC services or applications with respect to the device104 indicates that the single redundancy version state is to be used forthe control channel 114 for the data transmission (e.g., wherein furtheranalysis of other characteristics, factors, or performance criteria canbe performed), in accordance with the defined overhead managementcriteria. Use of the single redundancy version for the control channelin connection with the use of URLLC and/or mMTC services or applicationscan desirably reduce latency and overhead (e.g., overhead for thecontrol channel 114).

For the eMBB service or application, the overhead management component112 can determine that the multiple redundancy versions state is to beused for the control channel 114 for the data transmission, or at leastcan determine that the employment of the eMBB service or applicationwith respect to the device 104 indicates that the multiple redundancyversions state is to be used for the control channel 114 for the datatransmission (e.g., wherein further analysis of other characteristics,factors, or performance criteria can be performed), in accordance withthe defined overhead management criteria.

Another performance criteria (e.g., another characteristic or factor)for determining between the respective redundancy version states, andthe respective HARQ techniques associated therewith, can be previous(e.g., historical) HARQ statistics associated with the device 104 over aperiod of time. The overhead management component 112 can analyze theprevious HARQ statistics associated with the device 104 for a desired(e.g., defined) period of time to determine whether the device 104utilizes (e.g., typically or often utilizes or requires) multiplere-transmissions of data or not. Based at least in part on the resultsof analyzing the previous HARQ statistics, if the overhead managementcomponent 112 determines that the device 104 desirably (e.g., suitably,acceptably) does not utilize (e.g., require) multiple re-transmission ofdata to accomplish (e.g., perform or complete) a data transmission(e.g., the device 104 accomplishes or typically accomplishes datatransmissions with one or two transmissions, as opposed to usingmultiple re-transmissions), the overhead management component 112 candetermine that it can be appropriate (e.g., suitable) and desirable(e.g., acceptable, or optimal) to utilize the single redundancy versionstate and associated format (e.g., associated single RV control channelformat) for the control channel 114 for the data transmission, or atleast can determine that such analysis results indicate that it can beappropriate (e.g., suitable) and desirable (e.g., acceptable, oroptimal) to utilize the single redundancy version state and format forthe control channel 114 for the data transmission (e.g., wherein furtheranalysis of other characteristics, factors, or performance criteria canbe performed), in accordance with the defined overhead managementcriteria. When the single redundancy version is employed, the use of thesingle redundancy version for the control channel 114 can desirablyreduce latency and can desirably reduce overhead for the control channel114.

If, however, based at least in part on the results of analyzing theprevious HARQ statistics, the overhead management component 112determines that the device 104 undesirably (e.g., unsuitably,unacceptably) utilizes (e.g., requires) multiple re-transmission of datato accomplish (e.g., perform or complete) a data transmission, theoverhead management component 112 can determine that it can beappropriate (e.g., suitable) and desirable (e.g., acceptable, oroptimal) to utilize the multiple redundancy versions state and format(e.g., associated multiple RV control channel format) for the controlchannel 114 in connection with the data transmission, or at least candetermine that such analysis results indicate that it can be appropriate(e.g., suitable) and desirable (e.g., acceptable, or optimal) to utilizethe multiple redundancy versions state and format for the controlchannel 114 in connection with the data transmission (e.g., whereinfurther analysis of other characteristics, factors, or performancecriteria can be performed), in accordance with the defined overheadmanagement criteria.

Still another performance criteria (e.g., another characteristic orfactor) for determining between the respective redundancy versionstates, and the respective HARQ techniques associated therewith, can bethe configured threshold for CSI estimation. In 5G NR, the network nodedevice 102 (or other network node) can indicate, to the device 104, athreshold value in percentage (or other type of threshold value) forestimating the CSI. The threshold value typically either can be 10% or1% for FER. If the communication network (e.g., the network node device102 of the network) selects 1% as the threshold value, there can be arelatively high probability that the data packets of the datatransmission will suitably pass (e.g., without multiplere-transmissions). In such instances (e.g., where 1% or other desiredvalue is used as the threshold value), the overhead management component112 can determine that it can be appropriate (e.g., suitable) anddesirable (e.g., acceptable, or sufficient, or optimal) to utilize thesingle redundancy version state and format for the control channel 114in connection with the data transmission, or at least can determine thatsuch analysis results indicate that it can be appropriate (e.g.,suitable) and desirable (e.g., acceptable, or optimal) to utilize thesingle redundancy version state and format for the control channel 114in connection with the data transmission (e.g., wherein further analysisof other characteristics, factors, or performance criteria can beperformed), in accordance with the defined overhead management criteria.When the single redundancy version is employed, the use of the singleredundancy version for the control channel 114 can desirably reducesignaling, latency, and/or can overhead for the control channel 114.

If, however, the communication network selects, for example, 10% for thethreshold value (or another value that is determined to be undesirable(e.g., unsuitable) with respect to use of the single redundancy versionand format), the overhead management component 112 can determine thatthe device 104 undesirably (e.g., unsuitably, unacceptably) utilizes(e.g., requires), or at least potentially may utilize, multiplere-transmission of data to accomplish (e.g., perform or complete) a datatransmission. Accordingly, the overhead management component 112 candetermine that it can be appropriate (e.g., suitable) and desirable(e.g., acceptable, or optimal) to utilize the multiple redundancyversions state and format for the control channel 114 in connection withthe data transmission, or at least can determine that such analysisresults indicate that it can be appropriate (e.g., suitable) anddesirable (e.g., acceptable, or optimal) to utilize the multipleredundancy versions state and format for the control channel 114 inconnection with the data transmission (e.g., wherein further analysis ofother characteristics, factors, or performance criteria can beperformed), in accordance with the defined overhead management criteria.

Yet another performance criteria (e.g., another characteristic orfactor) that can be considered for determining between the respectiveredundancy version states, and the respective HARQ techniques associatedtherewith, can be the capability of the device 104. Some UEs can becapable of supporting the single redundancy version and multipleredundancy versions, whereas other UEs may only be capable of supportingthe single redundancy version. For example, some lower cost UEs may onlybe capable of supporting the single redundancy version.

The device 104 can communicate a signal (e.g., a UE RV capabilitysignal) to the network node device 102, wherein the signal can indicatewhether the device 104 is capable of supporting both the singleredundancy version and multiple redundancy versions, or is only becapable of supporting the single redundancy version. The overheadmanagement component 112 can analyze the signal from the device 104. If,based at least in part on the analysis, the overhead managementcomponent 112 determines that the device 104 only supports the singleredundancy version, the overhead management component 112 can determinethat it can be desirable (e.g., suitable, acceptable, or optimal) toutilize the single redundancy version state and format for the controlchannel 114 in connection with the data transmission, in accordance withthe defined overhead management criteria. When the single redundancyversion is employed, the use of the single redundancy version for thecontrol channel 114 can desirably reduce overhead for the controlchannel 114, for example.

If, however, based at least in part on the analysis of the signal (e.g.,a UE RV capability signal), the overhead management component 112determines that the device 104 is capable of supporting both the singleredundancy version and multiple redundancy versions, the overheadmanagement component 112 can determine that analysis of othercharacteristics, factors, or performance criteria relating to the device104 can be performed to determine which redundancy version state andassociated format to employ in connection with the data transmission, inaccordance with the defined overhead management criteria.

Depending on the overhead management criteria, one characteristic,factor, or performance criterion, or two or more characteristics,factors, or performance criterions can be utilized and evaluated by theoverhead management component 112 to determine which redundancy versionstate and associated format to employ in connection with datatransmissions. In some embodiments, the overhead management component112 can consider a particular characteristic(s), factor(s), orperformance criterion(s) (e.g., type of service, or a configuredthreshold for CSI estimation) to be more significant or relevant, and/orcan apply or give more weight (e.g., apply a desired weighting factor),when determining which redundancy version state and associated format toemploy in connection with data transmissions, in accordance with thedefined overhead management criteria.

In certain embodiments, the network node device 102 may use any or noneof the techniques for transmitting downlink control channel whenmultiple FEC codes are used for data transmission. Also, it is notedthat each of the disclosed techniques can depend, at least in part, onhow the multiple FEC codes are configured.

Based at least in part on the results of the analysis of one or more ofthe characteristics, factors, or performance criteria, the overheadmanagement component 112 can determine whether to utilize the singleredundancy version state (and associated single RV control channelformat) or the multiple redundancy versions state (and associatedmultiple RV control channel format) for the data transmission for thedevice 104, in accordance with the defined overhead management criteria.

Referring briefly to FIGS. 2 and 3 (along with FIG. 1), FIG. 2 depicts ablock diagram of an example downlink control channel 200 that includes aredundancy version field and can be employed when utilizing the multipleredundancy versions state, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. FIG. 3 presents a blockdiagram of an example downlink control channel 300 that does not includea redundancy version field or redundancy version information, withrespect to codewords of a data transmission, and can be employed whenutilizing the single redundancy version state, in accordance withvarious aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

As can be observed in the downlink control channel 200 of FIG. 2, thedownlink control channel 200 can comprise various fields whereinrespective control information can be inserted. The various fields cancomprise, for example, a first field 202 wherein a first portion of thecontrol information can be included (e.g., inserted), a second field 204(e.g., an RV field) wherein redundancy version information can beincluded, and a third field 206 wherein another portion of the controlinformation can be included.

As can be observed in the downlink control channel 300 of FIG. 3, thedownlink control channel 300 can comprise various fields whereinrespective control information can be inserted. The various fields cancomprise, for example, a first field 302 wherein a first portion of thecontrol information can be included (e.g., inserted), and a second field304 wherein another (e.g., second) portion of the control informationcan be included. The downlink control channel 300 associated with thesingle redundancy version state, for use of only a single redundancyversion value, can be structured to not include the RV field, as, sinceonly a single redundancy version value is being used with the singleredundancy version state, it can be unnecessary, redundant, andinefficient to communicate such redundancy version information to thedevice 104. Other aspects of the downlink control channel 200 of FIG. 2and the downlink control channel 300 of FIG. 3 will be discussedelsewhere herein.

If, based at least in part on the results of the analysis of one or moreof the characteristics, factors, or performance criteria, the overheadmanagement component 112 determines that the single redundancy versionstate is to be selected and utilized for the data transmission, theoverhead management component 112 can generate the control channel 114to have a format or structure (e.g., single RV control channel format ofdownlink control channel 300) that does not include a field forredundancy version (e.g., does not include an RV field), and cangenerate control information, for communication via the control channel114, that does not include redundancy version information (e.g., doesnot include a redundancy version value, such as RV0).

If, based at least in part on the results of the analysis of one or moreof the characteristics, factors, or performance criteria, the overheadmanagement component 112 determines that the multiple redundancyversions state is to be selected and utilized for the data transmission,the overhead management component 112 can generate the control channel114 to have a format or structure (e.g., multiple RV control channelformat of downlink control channel 200) that does include a field (e.g.,RV field 204) for the redundancy version, and can generate controlinformation that does include redundancy version information, which canbe inserted in the field.

Prior to the network node device 102 communicating the controlinformation to the device 104 via the control channel 114, the overheadmanagement component 112 can generate an appropriate (e.g.,corresponding) control signal (e.g., a higher layer or higher ordersignal or message), such as an RRC signal (e.g., RRC message), thatcorresponds to the determined (and selected) redundancy version state,and can communicate the appropriate control signal to the device 104 toindicate, to the device 104, the determined (and selected) redundancyversion state to use for the data transmission between the device 104and the network node device 102. For instance, if the single redundancyversion state is determined and selected by the overhead managementcomponent 112, the overhead management component 112 can generate afirst type (e.g., single RV state) of control signal, which can relateand correspond to the single redundancy version state, and cancommunicate the first type of control signal to the device 104 tofacilitate indicating, to the device 104, that a single redundancyversion is to be utilized for the data transmission, and also canindicate that no redundancy version information will be included in thecontrol information communicated via the control channel 114 inconnection with the data transmission.

If the multiple redundancy versions state is determined and selected bythe overhead management component 112, the overhead management component112 can generate a second type (e.g., multiple RV state) of controlsignal, which can relate and correspond to the multiple redundancyversions state, and can communicate the second type of control signal tothe device 104 to facilitate indicating, to the device 104, thatmultiple redundancy versions are to be utilized for the datatransmission, and also can indicate that redundancy version informationwill be included in the control information communicated via the controlchannel 114 in connection with the data transmission.

The device 104 can receive the control signal (e.g., RRC signal) fromthe network node device 102. The device 104 can comprise a communicationmanagement component 118 that can analyze the control signal todetermine which redundancy version state of the set of redundancyversion states is being utilized, and correspondingly, which controlchannel format for the control channel 114 is being utilized, inconnection with the data transmission. If the control signal is thefirst type (e.g., single RV state) of control signal, the communicationmanagement component 118 can control operation of the device 104 to havethe communication management component 118 and/or other components ofthe device 104 to process the control information communicated via thecontrol channel 114 based at least in part on the single redundancyversion state, and correspondingly, the control channel 114 notincluding an RV field or redundancy version information. If the controlsignal is the second type (e.g., multiple RV state) of control signal,the communication management component 118 can control operation of thedevice 104 to have the communication management component 118 and/orother components of the device 104 to process the control informationcommunicated via the control channel 114 based at least in part on themultiple redundancy versions state, and correspondingly, the controlchannel 114 having an RV field and redundancy version informationtherein.

When the data transmission is being performed utilizing the singleredundancy version, the network node device 102 can communicate thecontrol information (having no redundancy version information) to thedevice 104 via the control channel (e.g., downlink control channel 114)having the single RV control channel format (e.g., the format ofdownlink control channel 300). By not including a field for theredundancy version in the control channel 114, and by not includingredundancy version information in the control information, the overheadmanagement component 112 can reduce the amount of overhead (e.g., reducethe amount of control information) for the control channel 114 inconnection with the data transmission.

When the data transmission is being performed utilizing multipleredundancy versions, the network node device 102 can communicate thecontrol information, comprising the redundancy version information, tothe device 104 via the control channel (e.g., downlink control channel114) having the multiple RV control channel format (e.g., the format ofdownlink control channel 200).

Based at least in part on (e.g., in accordance with) the controlinformation communicated via the control channel 114, the data of thedata transmission can be communicated between the network node device102 and the device 104 via a data traffic communication channel.

As disclosed, the principles and techniques disclosed herein can beemployed for uplink data transmissions, with regard to an uplink datatransmission, the overhead management component 112 can determine whichredundancy version state of the set of redundancy version states, andcorrespondingly, which control channel format, to utilize for the datatransmission, employing the techniques and analyses described herein, inaccordance with the defined overhead management criteria. The overheadmanagement component 112 can communicate an appropriate (e.g.,corresponding) control signal (e.g., RRC signal), which can correspondto the determined redundancy version state, to the device 104. Thecommunication management component 118 of the device 104 can analyze thecontrol signal to determine which redundancy version state of the set ofredundancy version states, and which control channel format, to utilizefor the data transmission. Based at least in part on the result ofanalyzing the received control signal, the communication managementcomponent 118 and/or other components of the device 104 can perform theuplink data transmission to transmit the data, in accordance with thedetermined redundancy version state and using the corresponding controlchannel format. For instance, in a single redundancy version state, thecontrol channel will not include an RV field, and the controlinformation will not include redundancy version information; and in amultiple redundancy versions state, the control channel will include anRV field, and the control information will include redundancy versioninformation (e.g., in the RV field).

The disclosed subject matter, employing the overhead managementcomponent 112 and techniques disclosed herein, can reduce the amount ofoverhead for a control channel (e.g., reduce the amount of controlinformation communicated via the control channel (e.g., downlink controlchannel 114 or uplink control channel 116)) in connection with datatransmissions, and can enhance power efficiency, as the disclosedsubject matter can reduce or minimize the amount of power utilized fortransmitting control information via the control channel. The networknode device 102 can utilize the power and other resources saved withrespect to transmission of control information via the control channel,for example, for transmission of data via the data traffic channel. Asstill another example, with improved data transmission, the disclosedsubject matter can significantly improve the link and system throughputfor the communication network.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting messagesequence flow chart 400 for a downlink data transmission in 5G systemsin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Thenon-limiting message sequence flow chart 400 can be utilized for newradio, as disclosed herein. As illustrated, the non-limiting messagesequence flow chart 400 can represent the message sequence between thenetwork node device 102 and the device 104.

In connection with, for example, a downlink data transmission, asindicated at reference numeral 402 of the message sequence flow chart400, the network node device 102 can communicate cell specific or UEspecific reference signals to the device 104. As indicated at referencenumeral 404 of the message sequence flow chart 400, the device 104 cananalyze the cell specific or UE specific reference signals, and candetermine (e.g., compute) channel estimates and parameters for use inchannel state information (CSI) reporting in connection with thedownlink data transmission based at least in part on the results ofanalyzing the cell specific or UE specific reference signals and/orother information. The device 104 can generate the CSI report, which cancomprise, for example, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precodingmatrix index (PMI), rank information (RI), CSI-RS resource indicator,and/or beam specific information (e.g., beam indicator). Upon requestfrom the network (e.g., the network node device 102 or other networknode) aperiodically or per periodic reporting, the device 104 cancommunicate the CSI report to the network node device 102 via a feedbackchannel, as indicated at reference numeral 406 of the message sequenceflow chart 400.

As indicated at reference numeral 408 of the message sequence flow chart400, a network scheduler of or associated with the network node device102 can analyze and use the information in the CSI report and/or otherinformation to determine and select parameters for scheduling (e.g.,scheduling of transmission of data) for the device 104, based at leastin part on the results of analyzing the CSI report and/or the otherinformation. The parameters determined for downlink transmission cancomprise, for example, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), power,physical resource blocks (PRBs), and/or other desired parameters, asmore fully described herein. These parameters (e.g., schedulingparameters) can be part of the control information (e.g., downlinkcontrol information (DCI)) that can be provided (e.g., communicated) tothe device 104 to facilitate scheduling and execution of the datatransmission for the device 104.

As indicated at reference numeral 410 of the message sequence flow chart400, in connection with generating the control information, tofacilitate controlling and/or reducing overhead for the control channel114 (e.g., downlink control channel), the overhead management component112 of the network node device 102 can determine which redundancyversion state of a set of redundancy version states (e.g., singleredundancy version state, multiple redundancy version state) is to beutilized in connection with the data transmission, based at least inpart on one or more characteristics or factors associated with thedevice 104, in accordance with the defined overhead management criteria,as more fully described herein. As indicated at reference numeral 412 ofthe message sequence flow chart 400, the network node device 102 cancommunicate a control signal (e.g., RRC signal) to the device 104 toindicate, to the device 104, which redundancy version state is beingemployed, and correspondingly, which control channel format is beingemployed, for the data transmission.

As indicated at reference numeral 414 of the message sequence flow chart400, the control information (e.g., DCI) can be communicated via thecontrol channel 114, which can have a control channel format that cancorrespond to the selected redundancy version state. As indicated atreference numeral 416 of the message sequence flow chart 400, the dataof the data transmission can be communicated between the network nodedevice 102 and the device 104 via a data traffic channel, in accordancewith the control information.

With further regard to downlink reference signals, downlink referencesignals can be predefined signals that can occupy specific resourceelements within the downlink time-frequency grid. There are severaltypes of downlink reference signals that can be transmitted in differentways and used for different purposes by the receiving terminal (e.g.,receiving device 104). For example, there can be CSI reference signals(CSI-RS). CSI-RS can be specifically intended to be used by terminals(e.g., mobile devices) to acquire CSI and beam specific information(beam reference signal received power (RSRP)). In 5G, CSI-RS can be UEspecific, so it can have a significantly lower time and/or frequencydensity.

As another example, there also can be demodulation reference signals(DM-RS). DM-RS also sometimes can be referred to as UE-specificreference signals, and such signals can be specifically intended to beused by terminals (e.g., mobile devices) for channel estimation for thedata channel. The label “UE-specific” relates to the fact that eachdemodulation reference signal can be intended for channel estimation bya single terminal (e.g., device 104). That specific reference signal isthen only transmitted within the resource blocks assigned for datatraffic channel transmission to that particular terminal. Other thanthese reference signals, there also can be other reference signals, suchas, for example, phase tracking and tracking and sounding referencesignals (SRS) that can be used for various purposes.

As disclosed, the techniques of the disclosed subject matter also can beemployed with regard to uplink control channel and uplink datatransmissions. With regard to the uplink control channel, the uplinkcontrol channel can carry information regarding HARQ acknowledgement(HARQ-ACK) information that can correspond to the downlink datatransmission, and CSI. The channel state information typically cancomprise CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), rank indicator (RI), channelquality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), and/or layerindicator, etc. The CSI can be divided into two categories. One can befor subband and the other can be for wideband. The configuration ofsubband or wideband CSI reporting can be performed through RRC signalingas part of the CSI reporting configuration. Table 1 illustrates thecontents of CSI report for PMI format indicator=Wideband, CQI formatindicator=wideband and for PMI format indicator=subband, and CQI formatindicator=subband.

TABLE 1 Contents of CSI report for both wideband and side bandPMI-FormatIndicator = PMI-FormatIndicator = subbandPMI or widebandPMIand CQI-FormatIndicator = subbandCQI CQI- CSI Part II FormatIndicator =widebandCQI CSI Part I wideband Sideband CRI CRI Wideband Subband CQIfor differential the CQI for the second second TB of TB all evensubbands Rank Indicator Rank PMI PMI subband Indicator widebandinformation (X1 and fields X₂ of X2) all even subbands Layer IndicatorLayer — Subband Indicator differential CQI for the second TB of all oddsubbands PMI wideband (X1 and X2) Wideband — PMI subband CQI informationfields X₂ of all odd subbands Wideband CQI Subband — — differential CQIfor the first TB

It is noted that, for NR, the subband can be defined according to thebandwidth part of the OFDM in terms of PRBs, as shown in Table 2. Thesubband configuration also can be performed through RRC signaling.

TABLE 2 Configurable subband sizes Carrier bandwidth Subband Size part(PRBs) (PRBs) <24 N/A 24-72 4, 8  73-144 8, 16 145-275 16, 32

With further regard to the downlink control channel and downlink controlchannel information, the downlink control channel (e.g., physicaldownlink control channel (PDCCH)) can carry information relating to thescheduling grants. Typically, this information can comprise a number ofMIMO layers scheduled, transport block sizes, modulation for eachcodeword, parameters related to HARQ, and/or subband locations, etc. Itis noted that, some DCI formats may not use or transmit all theinformation as shown above or otherwise described herein. In general,the contents of the downlink control channel can depend, at least inpart, on the transmission mode and the DCI format.

Typically, all or a portion of the following information can betransmitted by means of the DCI format:

carrier indicator;

identifier for DCI formats;

bandwidth part indicator;

frequency domain resource assignment;

time domain resource assignment;

virtual resource block (VRB)-to-physical resource block (PRB) mappingflag;

PRB bundling size indicator;

rate matching indicator;

zero power (ZP) CSI-RS trigger;

modulation and coding scheme for each transport block (TB);

new data indicator for each TB;

redundancy version for each TB;

hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number;

downlink assignment index;

transmit power control (TPC) command for uplink control channel;

physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator;

physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)-to-HARQ feedback timingindicator;

antenna port(s);

transmission configuration indication;

sounding reference signal (SRS) request;

code block group (CBG) transmission information;

CBG flushing out information; and/or

demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence initialization.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of an exampletransmitter 500 on the transmission side of a MIMO communications systemwith N_(t) transmit antennas, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. This can illustrate, forexample, the coding chain for PDSCH.

In the transmitter 500, there can be, for example, up to 2 transportblocks, such as transport block₁ 502 (TB1) and transport block₂ 504(TB2), wherein the number of transport blocks can be equal to one whenthe number of layers is less than or equal to four. If the number oflayers is more than four, two transport blocks can be transmitted by thetransmitter 500. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits can added toeach transport block and the respective data streams can be passed tothe channel encoder(s), such as, for example, channel encoder₁ 506 (E1)and channel encoder₂ 508 (E2). In some embodiments, the respectivechannel encoders (e.g., 506, 508) can utilize low-density parity-check(LDPC) codes as the FEC for NR. The respective channel encoders (e.g.,506, 508) can add parity bits to the respective data streams to protectand facilitate error correction of the data.

In some embodiments, after the channel encoding is performed, theoverhead management component 510 can determine which redundancy versionstate to utilize for the data transmission, determine the controlchannel format for the control channel, determine and/or generate thecontrol information, and/or generate the control channel having theappropriate control channel format and appropriate control information,as more fully described herein.

After encoding and the determining of the redundancy version state andcontrol channel format, the transmitter 500 can comprise one or morescrambler components, such as scrambler component₁ 512 (SC1) andscrambler component₂ 514 (SC2), and the respective data streams can bepassed to the respective scrambler components, which can scramble therespective data streams with user specific scrambling.

After the scrambling has been performed, the transmitter 500 can passthe respective data streams through one or more respective interleaverand modulation components (e.g., interleaver and modulationcomponent(s)), such as interleaver and modulation component₁ 516 (IM1)and interleaver and modulation component₂ 518 (IM2). The interleaversize of the respective interleaver and modulation components (e.g., 516,518) can be adaptively controlled (e.g., by an adaptive controller 520)by puncturing to increase the data rate. The adaptive controller 520 canperform such adaptation of the interleaver size by using the informationfrom the feedback channel, such as, for example, CSI and/or otherinformation (e.g., scheduler information) sent by the receiver (e.g.,the mobile device). The transmitter 500 can pass the interleaved datathrough one or more respective symbol mappers (modulators) of therespective interleaver and modulation components (e.g., 516, 518). Theadaptive controller 520 also can control the respective symbol mappers,based at least in part on the information from the feedback channel.After the modulator(s), the transmitter 500 can pass the respective datastreams through a layer mapper component 522 (LM) and a precodercomponent 524 (PC), which can perform respective operations on therespective data streams.

The transmitter 500 can comprise one or more re-mapper components, suchas re-mapper component₁ 526 (RM1) and re-mapper component_(N) 528 (RMN).The respective re-mapper components (e.g., 526, 528) can map therespective resultant symbols of the respective data streams output fromthe precoder component 524 to the resources elements in thetime-frequency grid of OFDM.

The transmitter 500 can include one or more inverse fast Fouriertransform (IFFT) components (e.g., IFFT blocks), such as IFFT component₁530 (IFFT1) and IFFT component_(N) 532 (IFFTN), and the transmitter 500can pass (e.g., communicate, or send) the resultant data streams, outputfrom the respective re-mapper components (e.g., 526, 528), through therespective IFFT components (e.g., 530, 532). It is noted that an IFFTblock can be desirable (e.g., suitable or necessary) for somecommunication systems which implement OFDMA as the access technology(e.g., 5G, LTE/LTE-A), and, in other systems, it may be different andcan be dependent in part on the multiple access system. The transmitter500 can comprise a set of antennas 534, comprising N_(t) antennas, andthe encoded data stream can be transmitted through the respectiveantennas of the set of antennas 534, wherein N can be a desired integernumber.

In some embodiments, code block segmentation can be employed tofacilitate transmission of data. In NR, for data transmission, thetransport block can be encoded using, for example, LDPC code, asdisclosed herein. In a first act of the physical-layer processing, a24-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) can be calculated (e.g., by theoverhead management component 112 or another component of the networknode device 102) for and appended to each transport block. The CRC canallow for receiver-side detection of errors in the decoded transportblock. The corresponding error indication can, for example, be used bythe downlink HARQ protocol as a trigger for requesting retransmissions.

Turning to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example codeblock segmentation 600, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. If the transport block,including the transport-block CRC, exceeds the maximum code-block size(e.g., 8448 for base graph 1, and 3840 for base graph 2, of Table 3,disclosed herein), code-block segmentation can be applied (e.g., by theoverhead management component 112 or another component of the networknode device 102) before the LDPC coding. Code-block segmentation canmean or imply that the transport block is segmented into smaller codeblocks, the sizes of which should match or otherwise be in accordancewith (e.g., compatible with) the set of code-block sizes supported bythe encoder component (e.g., LDPC coder).

As illustrated in the example code block segmentation 600, a transportblock 602 can comprise or have the CRC 604 appended to the transportblock 602. In this example case, the transport block can be segmented(e.g., by the overhead management component 112 or another component ofthe network node device 102) into a desired number (e.g., M) of codeblocks, comprising code block #1 606, code block #2 608, up through codeblock #M 610, in accordance with the set of code-block sizes supportedby the encoder component, wherein M can be a desired integer number.

Filler bits 612 can be inserted (e.g., by the overhead managementcomponent 112 or another component of the network node device 102) intothe code block #1 606 to generate code block #1 614. Respective CRC forthe respective code blocks (e.g., 612, 608, 610) can be determined(e.g., determined or calculated by the overhead management component 112or another component of the network node device 102), and inserted intoor appended to the respective code blocks (e.g., by the overheadmanagement component 112 or another component of the network node device102) to generate code block #1 616 associated with CRC 618, code block#2 620 associated with CRC 622, up through code block #M 624 associatedwith CRC 626. The respective code blocks (e.g., 616, 620, 624) andrespectively associated CRC (e.g., 618, 622, 626) can be passed tochannel coding.

In the case of a single code block when no segmentation is needed, noadditional code-block CRC is applied, code-block segmentation typicallyis applied, for example, to large transport blocks for which therelative extra overhead due to the additional transport block CRC isdetermined to be relatively and sufficiently (e.g., suitably,acceptably) small. Information regarding the transport-block size can beprovided to the terminal (e.g., mobile device) as part of the schedulingassignment transmitted on the control channel (e.g., PDCCH controlchannel). Based at least in part on this information, the terminal(e.g., device 104) can determine the code-block size and number of codeblocks. The terminal receiver can thus, based at least in part on theinformation provided in the scheduling assignment, straightforwardlyundo or assemble the code-block segmentation and recover the decodedtransport blocks.

With regard to redundancy version, it is noted that, once theinformation bits are segmented and encoded using LDPC code (e.g., eitherbase graph 1 or 2 of Table 3), it can be desirable (e.g., suitable ornecessary) for the information bits to be rate matched for thetransmission. In some embodiments, NR (e.g., an overhead managementcomponent in an NR system) can utilize a circular buffer for ratematching each code block. As an example, the standard can define fourredundancy versions, as depicted in FIG. 7, which illustrates a diagramof an example circular buffer 700 comprising four redundancy versions,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The example circular buffer 700 can include, forexample, four redundancy versions, such as RV0 702, RV1 704, RV2 706,and RV3 708.

The respective starting positions of each redundancy version can be, forexample, as shown in Table 3. In Table 3, N_(cb) can be or represent thenumber of information bits in a code block, and Z_(e) can be, forexample, a shifting size or parameter that shifts a matrix (e.g.,parametric matrix) in the precoding.

TABLE 3 Starting position of different redundancy versions, k₀ k₀RV_(id) Base graph 1 Base graph 2 0 0 0 1$\left\lfloor \frac{17\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{66\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$$\left\lfloor \frac{13\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{50\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$2$\left\lfloor \frac{33\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{66\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$$\left\lfloor \frac{25\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{50\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$3$\left\lfloor \frac{56\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{66\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$$\left\lfloor \frac{43\mspace{14mu} N_{cb}}{50\mspace{14mu} Z_{c}} \right\rfloor Z_{c}$

In NR, for each transmission, it can be desirable (e.g., suitable ornecessary) for the communication network (e.g., the network node device102 of the communication network) to inform to the device (e.g., 104)which redundancy version of the four redundancy versions it is currentlyscheduling. This network node device (e.g., 102) can communicate desiredinformation, such as information relating to redundancy version, via thedownlink control channel for PDSCH transmission and downlink controlchannel (grant channel) for uplink data transmission.

To further illustrate aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter, with further regard to control channel design, in a 5G system(or other next generation system), a single downlink control channeldesign can be inefficient and undesirable. Referring again to FIG. 2,FIG. 2 presents a block diagram of an example downlink control channel200 that includes a redundancy version field and can be employed whenutilizing the multiple redundancy versions state with respect to acodeword, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. The downlink control channel 200 is a type ofcontrol channel that can be used, for example, when HARQ-incrementalredundancy (HARQ-IR) is supported. With a single downlink controlchannel design, if the example downlink control channel 200, with itsparticular structure (e.g., format) is employed, such downlink controlchannel 200 can comprise an RV field and redundancy version (e.g.,redundancy version value(s) or bits) for each codeword of the datatransmission. It is noted that this downlink control channel structureis commonly used in 3G and 4G communication systems.

However, if, for example, a device (e.g., mobile device) is alwaysscheduled with redundancy version of RV0, in each transmission, thecontents of the downlink control channel representing redundancy versioncan be useless or unnecessary, as these fields of the downlink controlchannel 200 can be conveying redundant information (e.g., since theredundancy version is RV0 for each transmission). It is noted thatscheduling RV0 for every (re)transmission also can be referred to asHARQ Chase combining (HARQ-CC). Hence, in these cases, instead ofindicating redundancy version in each downlink control information(DCI), the disclosed subject matter, employing the overhead managementcomponent (e.g., 112) and techniques disclosed herein, can specify thatthe network node device (e.g., 102) and the device (e.g., 104) are inagreement to use a same redundancy version value (e.g., use RV0) for alltransmissions (e.g., when in accordance with the defined overheadmanagement criteria) or use a different redundancy version value (e.g.,a different RV) for each transmission (e.g., when in accordance with thedefined overhead management criteria), wherein, for example, theoverhead management component 112 can inform the device 104 regardingthe state of redundancy version for each transmission.

Referring again to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 presents a block diagram of an exampledownlink control channel 300 that does not include a redundancy versionfield or redundancy version information, with respect to codewords of adata transmission, and can be employed when utilizing the singleredundancy version state, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter. It is noted that adifference between the downlink control channel 300 and the downlinkcontrol channel 200 is that the redundancy version and the RV field arenot present in the downlink control channel 300 (e.g., the downlinkcontrol channel structure with respect to HARQ-Chase combining), while,with regard to the downlink control channel structure of the downlinkcontrol channel 200 of FIG. 2, the field for the redundancy versiontypically can comprise two bits or three bits for four or eight(re)transmissions, respectively.

It can be observed, from FIGS. 2 and 3, that for HARQ-CC, it can bedesirable to not have redundancy version or the RV field in the downlinkcontrol channel, as redundancy version is not desirable (e.g., is notnecessary), as in every (re)transmission, the same codeblock as that ofthe first transmission can be transmitted. However, with regard toHARQ-IR, different codeblocks may be transmitted. As a result, withregard to HARQ-IR, it can be desirable to have these codeblocksindicated by redundancy version in the downlink control channel.

Thus, if the control channel structure associated with HARQ-CC isemployed, as depicted in FIG. 3, it can be observed that the redundancyversion fields are not particularly useful for the receiver (e.g., thedevice 104) and the redundancy version fields, and associated redundancyversion information, can be undesirable additional overhead and does notconvey any particularly useful information. Accordingly, the disclosedsubject matter can employ a unified structure, using the techniquesdisclosed herein, to reduce the overhead of the control channel.Referring briefly to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 presents an example state diagram800 that illustrates the respective states (e.g., respective redundancyversion states) between which the communication network can switch tofacilitate reducing overhead associated with a control channel inconnection with data transmission, in accordance with various aspectsand embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The respective statescan comprise, for example, a single redundancy version state 802 and amultiple redundancy versions state 804. In the single redundancy versionstate 802, in connection with a data transmission, the communicationnetwork (e.g., the overhead management component of the network) alwayscan use a single redundancy version, such as RV0, which also can bereferred to as CC. In the multiple redundancy versions state 804, inconnection with a data transmission, the communication network (e.g.,the overhead management component of the network) can select the same ordifferent redundancy version for each (re)transmission.

In some embodiments, forward error correction (FEC)-1 can be the turbocode, and FEC-2 can be the quasi-cyclic LDPC (QC-LDPC) code. In otherembodiments, FEC-1 can be the turbo code, and FEC-2 can be the Polarcode. It is noted that CQI Table 1 and Table 2 differ in entries canmean the granularity at low code rates and high code rate entities.

FIG. 9 presents a diagram of an example graph 900 illustrating the frameerror rate (FER) for DCI transmission using a multiple redundancyversions capable DCI and a single-state redundancy version DCI, inaccordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subjectmatter. The graph 900 can illustrate the respective FER 902 (on they-axis) for DCI transmission with respect to the SNR 904 (on the x-axis)in dB for the respective redundancy version states (e.g., singleredundancy version state and multiple redundancy versions state). As canbe observed from the graph 900, the FER for DCI transmission with regardto the single redundancy version state (906) can be more desirable(e.g., better, more suitable, or improved), as compared to the FER forDCI transmission with regard to the multiple redundancy versions state(908). Thus, as can be observed from the graph 900, coverage can beimproved using the techniques disclosed herein, wherein, for example, ininstances where it can be desirable (e.g., appropriate, suitable,acceptable, or optimal), in accordance with the defined overheadmanagement criteria, the single redundancy version state can be employedfor DCI, and, in other instances where it can be desirable to employmultiple redundancy versions for the DCI, in accordance with the definedoverhead management criteria, the multiple redundancy versions state canbe employed for the DCI, in accordance with various aspects andembodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 10 depicts an example, non-limiting network node device 1000 thatcan control and reduce overhead for a control channel in a communicationnetwork, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of thedisclosed subject matter. Repetitive description of like elementsemployed in other embodiments described herein is omitted for sake ofbrevity. The network node device 1000 can comprise a communicatorcomponent 1002, an overhead management component 1004, an analyzercomponent 1006, a selector component 1008, a signal component 1010, acontrol channel generator component 1012, a processor component 1014,and a data store 1016.

The communicator component 1002 can comprise a transmitter component anda receiver component. The transmitter component can be employed totransmit information from the network node device 1000 to another device(e.g., a mobile and/or communication device, another network nodedevice). The transmitter component can comprise the components andfunctionality, such as described herein. The receiver component can beemployed to receive information from another device (e.g., a mobileand/or communication device, another network node device). The receivercomponent can comprise various components for receiving the information,decoding received information, error correcting the receivedinformation, and/or performing other processing of the receiveinformation.

The overhead management component 1004 can control and/or reduce theoverhead, including, for example, the redundancy version information,for a control channel (e.g., downlink control channel, uplink controlchannel) in connection with a data transmission, in accordance with thedefined overhead management criteria. The overhead management component1004 can control performance of all or at least a portion of theoperations of the various components of the network node device 1000.The overhead management component 1004 can determine which redundancyversion state to utilize, a control channel format to utilize, and/orwhat control information to include in a control channel, in connectionwith a data transmission, as more fully described herein. The overheadmanagement component 1004 also can determine which control signal (e.g.,RRC signal) to communicate to a device (e.g., mobile device) andfacilitate communicating the control signal to the device, in connectionwith the data transmission, as more fully described herein.

The analyzer component 1006 can analyze information, and can generateanalysis results based at least in part on the results of the analysisof the information, to facilitate determining which redundancy versionstate to utilize, determining a control channel format to utilize,and/or determining what control information to include in a controlchannel, in connection with a data transmission. For instance, theanalyzer component 1006 can analyze information relating to one or morecharacteristics, factors, or performance criteria associated with adevice (e.g., mobile device) to facilitate determining whether toutilize the single redundancy version state or the multiple redundancyversions state, and correspondingly, facilitate determining whether touse the control channel format associated with the single redundancyversion state or the control channel format associated with the multipleredundancy versions state, and/or determining whether to not includeredundancy version information in the control channel information (e.g.,for the single redundancy version state) or to include redundancyversion information in the control channel information (e.g., for themultiple redundancy versions state), based at least in part on theanalysis results, in accordance with the defined overhead managementcriteria.

The selector component 1008 can select the desired redundancy versionstate, and correspondingly, can select the desired control channelformat and select the desired control information (e.g., which may ormay not include redundancy version information), for use in connectionwith a data transmission, based at least in part on the analysis resultsobtained from the analyzer component 1006.

The signal component 1010 can determine and generate a desired controlsignal that corresponds to the selected redundancy version state for adata transmission. The signal component 1010 can facilitatecommunicating the desired control signal to the device via thecommunicator component 1002.

The control channel generator component 1012 can determine and generatedesired control information, which may or may not include redundancyversion information, depending in part on the redundancy version statethat is selected. The control channel generator component 1012 also candetermine a desired control channel format, and generate a controlchannel in accordance with the desired control channel format, based atleast in part on the selected redundancy version state. The controlchannel information can be communicated via the control channel from thenetwork node device 1000 to the device, in connection with the datatransmission.

The processor component 1014 can work in conjunction with the othercomponents (e.g., communicator component 1002, overhead managementcomponent 1004, data store 1016) to facilitate performing the variousfunctions of the network node device 1000. The processor component 1014can employ one or more processors, microprocessors, or controllers thatcan process data, such as information relating to characteristics,factors, or performance criteria associated with devices (e.g., mobiledevices), redundancy version states, redundancy version information,control channels, control channel formats, control channel information,parameters relating to data communications, traffic flows, policies,defined overhead management criteria, algorithms (e.g., overheadmanagement algorithm(s)), protocols, interfaces, tools, and/or otherinformation, to facilitate operation of the network node device 1000, asmore fully disclosed herein, and control data flow between the networknode device 1000 and other components (e.g., mobile devices, othernetwork devices of the communication network, data sources,applications, . . . ) associated with the network node device 1000.

The data store 1016 can store data structures (e.g., user data,metadata), code structure(s) (e.g., modules, objects, hashes, classes,procedures) or instructions, information relating to characteristics,factors, or performance criteria associated with devices (e.g., mobiledevices), redundancy version states, redundancy version information,control channels, control channel formats, control channel information,parameters relating to data communications, traffic flows, policies,defined overhead management criteria, algorithms (e.g., overheadmanagement algorithm(s)), protocols, interfaces, tools, and/or otherinformation, to facilitate controlling operations associated with thenetwork node device 1000. In an aspect, the processor component 1014 canbe functionally coupled (e.g., through a memory bus) to the data store1016 in order to store and retrieve information desired to operateand/or confer functionality, at least in part, to the communicatorcomponent 1002, overhead management component 1004, etc., and/orsubstantially any other operational aspects of the network node device1000.

It should be appreciated that the data store 1016 described herein cancomprise volatile memory and/or nonvolatile memory. By way of exampleand not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory(ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory caninclude random access memory (RAM), which can act as external cachememory. By way of example and not limitation, RAM can be available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Memory of the disclosed aspects are intended to comprise, without beinglimited to, these and other suitable types of memory.

In view of the example systems and/or devices described herein, examplemethods that can be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subjectmatter can be further appreciated with reference to flowcharts in FIGS.11-12. For purposes of simplicity of explanation, example methodsdisclosed herein are presented and described as a series of acts;however, it is to be understood and appreciated that the disclosedsubject matter is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts mayoccur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from thatshown and described herein. For example, a method disclosed herein couldalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, interaction diagram(s) mayrepresent methods in accordance with the disclosed subject matter whendisparate entities enact disparate portions of the methods. Furthermore,not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a method inaccordance with the subject specification. It should be furtherappreciated that the methods disclosed throughout the subjectspecification are capable of being stored on an article of manufactureto facilitate transporting and transferring such methods to computersfor execution by a processor or for storage in a memory.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example, non-limiting method 1100 for controllingoverhead for a control channel in a communication network, in accordancewith various aspects and embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.The method 1100 can be implemented by a network node device of awireless network, the network device comprising a processor, a memory,and/or an overhead management component. Alternatively, or additionally,a machine-readable storage medium can comprise executable instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operationsfor the method 1100.

At 1102, a redundancy version state of a set of redundancy versionstates that is to be utilized in connection with a data transmission canbe determined based at least in part on one or more characteristicsassociated with a device, wherein the redundancy version state canindicate whether a single redundancy version or multiple redundancyversions are to be utilized in connection with the data transmission.For instance, the processor and/or overhead management component cananalyze one or more characteristics, and can determine a redundancyversion state of a set (e.g., group) of redundancy version states thatis to be utilized in connection with a data transmission based at leastin part on the results of analyzing the one or more characteristicsassociated with a device (e.g., mobile device).

The set of redundancy version states can comprise, for example, a singleredundancy version state and a multiple redundancy versions state. Thecharacteristics associated with the device can comprise, for example, aspeed metric of the device, a Doppler metric of the device, a type ofservice associated with the device, historical HARQ statistics, aconfigured threshold for CSI estimation, a device capability forsupporting a single redundancy version or multiple redundancy versions,and/or other characteristics, factors, or performance criteria, as morefully disclosed herein.

At 1104, in response to the determining the redundancy version state, acontrol signal can be communicated to the device, wherein the controlsignal can indicate, to the device, the redundancy version state that isto be utilized in connection with the data transmission. In response tothe determining the redundancy version state, the processor and/oroverhead management component can determine a desired (e.g.,appropriate, corresponding) control signal (e.g., RRC signal) that canbe employed to inform the device which redundancy version state has beendetermined and selected for the data transmission, and correspondingly,which control channel format will be used in connection with the datatransmission, and whether redundancy version information will beincluded in the control channel information. The processor and/oroverhead management component can communicate or facilitatecommunicating the desired control signal to the device.

The device (e.g., a communication management component of the device)can analyze the control signal. Based at least in part on the results ofanalyzing the control signal, the device can determine which redundancyversion state has been selected for the data transmission, andcorrespondingly, which control channel format will be used in connectionwith the data transmission, and whether redundancy version informationwill be included in the control channel information.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example, non-limiting method 1200 forcontrolling overhead for a control channel in a communication network,in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. The method 1200 can be implemented by a network nodedevice of a wireless network, the network device comprising a processor,a memory, and/or an overhead management component. Alternatively, oradditionally, a machine-readable storage medium can comprise executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performanceof operations for the method 1200.

At 1202, information relating to one or more characteristics associatedwith a device can be received. The processor and/or overhead managementcomponent can receive the information relating to one or morecharacteristics associated with the device from the device, anothernetwork node, sensors, and/or another data source. The characteristicsassociated with the device can include, for example, a speed metric ofthe device, a Doppler metric of the device, a type of service associatedwith the device, historical HARQ statistics, a configured threshold forCSI estimation, a device capability for supporting a single redundancyversion or multiple redundancy versions, and/or other characteristics,factors, or performance criteria, as more fully disclosed herein.

At 1204, the information relating to one or more characteristicsassociated with the device can be analyzed. The processor and/oroverhead management component can analyze the information relating toone or more characteristics associated with the device to facilitatedetermining a desirable redundancy version state to employ in connectionwith a data transmission associated with the device.

At 1206, a desirable (e.g., suitable, acceptable, or optimal) redundancyversion state of a set of redundancy version states can be determinedbased at least in part on the results of analyzing the informationrelating to one or more characteristics associated with the device, inaccordance with the defined overhead management criteria. The processorand/or overhead management component can determine the desirableredundancy version state of the set of redundancy version states basedat least in part on the analysis results. The set of redundancy versionstates can comprise, for example, a single redundancy version state anda multiple redundancy versions state.

At 1208, it can be determined whether to include redundancy versioninformation in the control channel information in connection with thedata transmission, based at least in part on the redundancy versionstate. The processor and/or overhead management component can determinewhether to include redundancy version information in the control channelinformation in connection with the data transmission, based at least inpart on the redundancy version state. For instance, if the desirableredundancy version state is the single redundancy version state, theprocessor and/or overhead management component can determine that noredundancy version information is to be included in the control channel.If, however, the desirable redundancy version state is the multipleredundancy versions state, the processor and/or overhead managementcomponent can determine that redundancy version information is to beincluded in the control channel.

At 1210, a desirable (e.g., suitable or corresponding) control signalcan be determined based at least in part on the redundancy versionstate. The processor and/or overhead management component can determinethe desirable control signal based at least in part on the redundancyversion state. For example, if the desirable redundancy version state isthe single redundancy version state, the processor and/or overheadmanagement component can determine that a first type (e.g., single RV)of control signal is to be utilized to inform the device that the singleredundancy version state has been selected in connection with the datatransmission. If, however, the desirable redundancy version state is themultiple redundancy versions state, the processor and/or overheadmanagement component can determine that a second type (e.g., multipleRV) of control signal is to be utilized to inform the device that themultiple redundancy versions state has been selected in connection withthe data transmission. The control signal can be an RRC signal, forexample.

At 1212, the desired control signal can be communicated to the device.The processor and/or overhead management component can communicate orfacilitate communicating the desired control signal to the device.

At 1214, a control channel having a desired format can be generated,based at least in part on the desired redundancy version state. Theprocessor and/or overhead management component can generate the controlchannel having the desired format, based at least in part on the desiredredundancy version state. If the desired redundancy version state is thesingle redundancy version state, the processor and/or overheadmanagement component can generate a control channel having a firstformat that does not include an RV field or redundancy versioninformation. If, however, the desired redundancy version state is themultiple redundancy versions state, the processor and/or overheadmanagement component can generate a control channel having a secondformat that does comprise an RV field into which redundancy versioninformation can be inserted.

At 1216, data of the data transmission can be communicated to the devicevia a data traffic channel, in accordance with the control channelinformation of the control channel. The network node device cancommunicate the data of the data transmission to the device via the datatraffic channel, in accordance with the control channel information ofthe control channel.

Described herein are systems, methods, articles of manufacture, andother embodiments or implementations that can facilitate controlling orreducing overhead for control channels in connection with datatransmissions for a 5G, or other next generation, network. Facilitatingcontrolling or reducing overhead for control channels in connection withdata transmissions for a 5G, or other next generation, network can beimplemented in connection with any type of device with a connection tothe communications network (e.g., a mobile handset, a computer, ahandheld device, etc.) any Internet of things (IoT) device (e.g.,toaster, coffee maker, blinds, music players, speakers, etc.), and/orany connected vehicles (cars, airplanes, space rockets, and/or other atleast partially automated vehicles (e.g., drones)). In some embodiments,the non-limiting term User Equipment (UE) is used. It can refer to anytype of wireless device that communicates with a radio network node in acellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are targetdevice, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable ofmachine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, Tablet, mobile terminals,smart phone, Laptop Embedded Equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment(LME), USB dongles etc. Note that the terms element, elements andantenna ports can be interchangeably used but carry the same meaning inthis disclosure. The embodiments are applicable to single carrier aswell as to Multi-Carrier (MC) or Carrier Aggregation (CA) operation ofthe UE. The term Carrier Aggregation (CA) is also called (e.g.,interchangeably called) “multi-carrier system,” “multi-cell operation,”“multi-carrier operation,” “multi-carrier” transmission and/orreception.

In some embodiments, the non-limiting term radio network node or simplynetwork node is used. It can refer to any type of network node thatserves one or more UEs and/or that is coupled to other network nodes ornetwork elements or any radio node from where the one or more UEsreceive a signal. Examples of radio network nodes are Node B, BaseStation (BS), Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) node such as MSR BS, eNode B,network controller, Radio Network Controller (RNC), Base StationController (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, Base TransceiverStation (BTS), Access Point (AP), transmission points, transmissionnodes, RRU, RRH, nodes in Distributed Antenna System (DAS) etc.

Cloud Radio Access Networks (RAN) can enable the implementation ofconcepts such as Software-Defined Network (SDN) and Network FunctionVirtualization (NFV) in 5G networks. This disclosure can facilitate ageneric channel state information framework design for a 5G network.Certain embodiments of this disclosure can comprise an SDN controllerthat can control routing of traffic within the network and between thenetwork and traffic destinations. The SDN controller can be merged withthe 5G network architecture to enable service deliveries via openApplication Programming Interfaces (APIs) and move the network coretowards an all Internet Protocol (IP), cloud based, and software driventelecommunications network. The SDN controller can work with, or takethe place of Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) network elementsso that policies such as quality of service and traffic management androuting can be synchronized and managed end to end.

To meet the huge demand for data centric applications, 4G standards canbe applied to 5G, also called New Radio (NR) access. 5G networks cancomprise the following: data rates of several tens of megabits persecond supported for tens of thousands of users; 1 gigabit per secondcan be offered simultaneously (or concurrently) to tens of workers onthe same office floor; several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous (orconcurrent) connections can be supported for massive sensor deployments;spectral efficiency can be enhanced compared to 4G; improved coverage;enhanced signaling efficiency; and reduced latency compared to LTE. Inmulticarrier system such as OFDM, each subcarrier can occupy bandwidth(e.g., subcarrier spacing). If the carriers use the same bandwidthspacing, then it can be considered a single numerology. However, if thecarriers occupy different bandwidth and/or spacing, then it can beconsidered a multiple numerology.

Referring now to FIG. 13, illustrated is an example block diagram of anexample mobile handset 1300 (e.g., mobile device) operable to engage ina system architecture that facilitates wireless communications accordingto one or more embodiments described herein. Although a mobile handsetis illustrated herein, it will be understood that other devices can be amobile device, and that the mobile handset is merely illustrated toprovide context for the embodiments of the various embodiments describedherein. The following discussion is intended to provide a brief, generaldescription of an example of a suitable environment in which the variousembodiments can be implemented. While the description includes a generalcontext of computer-executable instructions embodied on amachine-readable storage medium, those skilled in the art will recognizethat the innovation also can be implemented in combination with otherprogram modules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, applications (e.g., program modules) can include routines,programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particulartasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the methods described herein canbe practiced with other system configurations, includingsingle-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, and the like,each of which can be operatively coupled to one or more associateddevices.

A computing device can typically include a variety of machine-readablemedia. Machine-readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by the computer and includes both volatile and non-volatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example and notlimitation, computer-readable media can comprise computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media can include volatileand/or non-volatile media, removable and/or non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage of information, suchas computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Computer storage media can include, but is not limited to,RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, solid statedrive (SSD) or other solid-state storage technology, Compact Disk ReadOnly Memory (CD ROM), digital video disk (DVD), Blu-ray disk, or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which canbe used to store the desired information and which can be accessed bythe computer. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or “non-transitory”herein as applied to storage, memory or computer-readable media, are tobe understood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se asmodifiers and do not relinquish rights to all standard storage, memoryor computer-readable media that are not only propagating transitorysignals per se.

Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includesany information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example,and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as awired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such asacoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the anyof the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The handset includes a processor 1302 for controlling and processing allonboard operations and functions. A memory 1304 interfaces to theprocessor 1302 for storage of data and one or more applications 1306(e.g., a video player software, user feedback component software, etc.).Other applications can include voice recognition of predetermined voicecommands that facilitate initiation of the user feedback signals. Theapplications 1306 can be stored in the memory 1304 and/or in a firmware1308, and executed by the processor 1302 from either or both the memory1304 or/and the firmware 1308. The firmware 1308 can also store startupcode for execution in initializing the handset 1300. A communicationcomponent 1310 interfaces to the processor 1302 to facilitatewired/wireless communication with external systems, e.g., cellularnetworks, VoIP networks, and so on. Here, the communication component1310 can also include a suitable cellular transceiver 1311 (e.g., a GSMtransceiver) and/or an unlicensed transceiver 1313 (e.g., Wi-Fi, WiMax)for corresponding signal communications. The handset 1300 can be adevice such as a cellular telephone, a PDA with mobile communicationscapabilities, and messaging-centric devices. The communication component1310 also facilitates communications reception from terrestrial radionetworks (e.g., broadcast), digital satellite radio networks, andInternet-based radio services networks.

The handset 1300 includes a display 1312 for displaying text, images,video, telephony functions (e.g., a Caller ID function), setupfunctions, and for user input. For example, the display 1312 can also bereferred to as a “screen” that can accommodate the presentation ofmultimedia content (e.g., music metadata, messages, wallpaper, graphics,etc.). The display 1312 can also display videos and can facilitate thegeneration, editing and sharing of video quotes. A serial I/O interface1314 is provided in communication with the processor 1302 to facilitatewired and/or wireless serial communications (e.g., USB, and/or IEEE1394) through a hardwire connection, and other serial input devices(e.g., a keyboard, keypad, and mouse). This supports updating andtroubleshooting the handset 1300, for example. Audio capabilities areprovided with an audio I/O component 1316, which can include a speakerfor the output of audio signals related to, for example, indication thatthe user pressed the proper key or key combination to initiate the userfeedback signal. The audio I/O component 1316 also facilitates the inputof audio signals through a microphone to record data and/or telephonyvoice data, and for inputting voice signals for telephone conversations.

The handset 1300 can include a slot interface 1318 for accommodating aSIC (Subscriber Identity Component) in the form factor of a cardSubscriber Identity Module (SIM) or universal SIM 1320, and interfacingthe SIM card 1320 with the processor 1302. However, it is to beappreciated that the SIM card 1320 can be manufactured into the handset1300, and updated by downloading data and software.

The handset 1300 can process IP data traffic through the communicationcomponent 1310 to accommodate IP traffic from an IP network such as, forexample, the Internet, a corporate intranet, a home network, a personarea network, etc., through an ISP or broadband cable provider. Thus,VoIP traffic can be utilized by the handset 1300 and IP-based multimediacontent can be received in either an encoded or a decoded format.

A video processing component 1322 (e.g., a camera) can be provided fordecoding encoded multimedia content. The video processing component 1322can aid in facilitating the generation, editing, and sharing of videoquotes. The handset 1300 also includes a power source 1324 in the formof batteries and/or an AC power subsystem, which power source 1324 caninterface to an external power system or charging equipment (not shown)by a power I/O component 1326.

The handset 1300 can also include a video component 1330 for processingvideo content received and, for recording and transmitting videocontent. For example, the video component 1330 can facilitate thegeneration, editing and sharing of video quotes. A location trackingcomponent 1332 facilitates geographically locating the handset 1300. Asdescribed hereinabove, this can occur when the user initiates thefeedback signal automatically or manually. A user input component 1334facilitates the user initiating the quality feedback signal. The userinput component 1334 can also facilitate the generation, editing andsharing of video quotes. The user input component 1334 can include suchconventional input device technologies such as a keypad, keyboard,mouse, stylus pen, and/or touch screen, for example.

Referring again to the applications 1306, a hysteresis component 1336facilitates the analysis and processing of hysteresis data, which isutilized to determine when to associate with the access point. Asoftware trigger component 1338 can be provided that facilitatestriggering of the hysteresis component 1336 when the Wi-Fi transceiver1313 detects the beacon of the access point. A SIP client 1340 enablesthe handset 1300 to support SIP protocols and register the subscriberwith the SIP registrar server. The applications 1306 can also include aclient 1342 that provides at least the capability of discovery, play andstore of multimedia content, for example, music.

The handset 1300, as indicated above related to the communicationcomponent 1310, includes an indoor network radio transceiver 1313 (e.g.,Wi-Fi transceiver). This function supports the indoor radio link, suchas IEEE 802.11, for the dual-mode GSM handset 1300. The handset 1300 canaccommodate at least satellite radio services through a handset that cancombine wireless voice and digital radio chipsets into a single handhelddevice.

In some embodiments, the handset 1300 can comprise a communicationmanagement component 118 that can analyze a control signal (e.g., RRCsignal) received from a network node device to determine whichredundancy version state of a set of redundancy version states is beingutilized in connection with a data transmission, and correspondingly,determine which control channel format is being employed or is to beemployed for a control channel in connection with the data transmission,and determine whether the control channel will include an RV field andredundancy version information in connection with the data transmission,as more fully described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 14, illustrated is an example block diagram of anexample computer 1400 operable to engage in a system architecture thatfacilitates wireless communications according to one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. The computer 1400 can provide networking andcommunication capabilities between a wired or wireless communicationnetwork and a server (e.g., Microsoft server) and/or communicationdevice. In order to provide additional context for various aspectsthereof, FIG. 14 and the following discussion are intended to provide abrief, general description of a suitable computing environment in whichthe various aspects of the innovation can be implemented to facilitatethe establishment of a transaction between an entity and a third party.While the description above is in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions that can run on one or more computers,those skilled in the art will recognize that the innovation also can beimplemented in combination with other program modules and/or as acombination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the various methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated aspects of the innovation can also be practiced indistributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed byremote processing devices that can be linked through a communicationsnetwork. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media or communications media, whichtwo terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.

Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structureddata, or unstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include,but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical diskstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitorymedia which can be used to store desired information. Computer-readablestorage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computingdevices, e.g., via access requests, queries or other data retrievalprotocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the informationstored by the medium.

Communications media can embody computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other structured or unstructured data ina data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave orother transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery ortransport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way ofexample, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference to FIG. 14, implementing various aspects described hereinwith regards to the end-user device can include a computer 1400, thecomputer 1400 including a processing unit 1404, a system memory 1406 anda system bus 1408. The system bus 1408 couples system componentsincluding, but not limited to, the system memory 1406 to the processingunit 1404. The processing unit 1404 can be any of various commerciallyavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multi processorarchitectures can also be employed as the processing unit 1404.

The system bus 1408 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1406includes read-only memory (ROM) 1427 and random access memory (RAM)1412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) is stored in a non-volatilememory 1427 such as ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basicroutines that help to transfer information between elements within thecomputer 1400, such as during start-up. The RAM 1412 can also include ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1400 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1414 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1414 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1416, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1418) and an optical disk drive 1420, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1422 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1414, magnetic diskdrive 1416 and optical disk drive 1420 can be connected to the systembus 1408 by a hard disk drive interface 1424, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1426 and an optical drive interface 1428, respectively. Theinterface 1424 for external drive implementations includes at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interfacetechnologies. Other external drive connection technologies are withincontemplation of the subject innovation.

The drives and their associated computer-readable media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 1400 the drives and mediaaccommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format.Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to aHDD, a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media suchas a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat other types of media which are readable by a computer 1400, such aszip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and thelike, can also be used in the exemplary operating environment, andfurther, that any such media can contain computer-executableinstructions for performing the methods of the disclosed innovation.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1412,including an operating system 1430, one or more application programs1432, other program modules 1434 and program data 1436. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1412. It is to be appreciated that the innovation canbe implemented with various commercially available operating systems orcombinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 1400 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 1438 and apointing device, such as a mouse 1440. Other input devices (not shown)can include a microphone, an IR remote control, a joystick, a game pad,a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and other input devicesare often connected to the processing unit 1404 through an input deviceinterface 1442 that is coupled to the system bus 1408, but can beconnected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 1444 or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus 1408 through an interface, such as a video adapter 1446. Inaddition to the monitor 1444, a computer 1400 typically includes otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1400 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections by wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1448. The remotecomputer(s) 1448 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentdevice, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer,although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 1450 isillustrated. The logical connections depicted include wired/wirelessconnectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1452 and/or larger networks,e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1454. Such LAN and WAN networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitateenterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which canconnect to a global communications network, e.g., the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1400 isconnected to the local network 1452 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1456. The adapter 1456 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1452, which canalso include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicatingwith the wireless adapter 1456.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1400 can includea modem 1458, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN1454, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN1454, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1458, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, is connected to thesystem bus 1408 through the input device interface 1442. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer, orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1450. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexemplary and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer is operable to communicate with any wireless devices orentities operatively disposed in wireless communication, e.g., aprinter, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portable dataassistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment or locationassociated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand,restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi and Bluetooth™wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefinedstructure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoccommunication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows connection to the Internet from acouch at home, in a hotel room, or a conference room at work, withoutwires. Wi-Fi is a wireless technology similar to that used in a cellphone that enables such devices, e.g., computers, to send and receivedata indoors and out; anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Finetworks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, etc.) toprovide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi networkcan be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and towired networks (which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networksoperate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps(802.11a) or 54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example, or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

An aspect of 5G, which differentiates from previous 4G systems, is theuse of NR. NR architecture can be designed to support multipledeployment cases for independent configuration of resources used forRACH procedures. Since the NR can provide additional services than thoseprovided by LTE, efficiencies can be generated by leveraging the prosand cons of LTE and NR to facilitate the interplay between LTE and NR,as discussed herein.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” or “anembodiment,” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment,” “in one aspect,” or “in an embodiment,” in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms “component,”“system,” “interface,” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution, and/or firmware. As anexample, a component can be, but is not limited to being, a processrunning on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a threadof execution, computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration and not limitation, both an applicationrunning on a server and the server can be a component.

One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component can be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components can communicate via localand/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having oneor more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting withanother component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). Asanother example, a component can be an apparatus with specificfunctionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric orelectronic circuitry, which is operated by a software application orfirmware application executed by one or more processors, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and can executeat least a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confer(s) at least in part the functionalityof the electronic components. In an aspect, a component can emulate anelectronic component via a virtual machine, e.g., within a cloudcomputing system. While various components have been illustrated asseparate components, it will be appreciated that multiple components canbe implemented as a single component, or a single component can beimplemented as multiple components, without departing from exampleembodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or.” That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “mobile device equipment,” “mobile station,”“mobile,” subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,”“communication device,” “mobile device” (and/or terms representingsimilar terminology) can refer to a wireless device utilized by asubscriber or mobile device of a wireless communication service toreceive or convey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming orsubstantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoing termsare utilized interchangeably herein and with reference to the relateddrawings. Likewise, the terms “access point (AP),” “Base Station (BS),”BS transceiver, BS device, cell site, cell site device, “Node B (NB),”“evolved Node B (eNode B),” “home Node B (HNB)” and the like, areutilized interchangeably in the application, and refer to a wirelessnetwork component or appliance that transmits and/or receives data,control, voice, video, sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream from one or more subscriber stations. Data andsignaling streams can be packetized or frame-based flows.

Furthermore, the terms “device,” “communication device,” “mobiledevice,” “subscriber,” “customer entity,” “consumer,” “customer entity,”“entity” and the like are employed interchangeably throughout, unlesscontext warrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based on complex mathematical formalisms), which canprovide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

Embodiments described herein can be exploited in substantially anywireless communication technology, comprising, but not limited to,wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), global system for mobile communications(GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), enhanced general packetradio service (enhanced GPRS), third generation partnership project(3GPP) long term evolution (LTE), third generation partnership project 2(3GPP2) ultra mobile broadband (UMB), high speed packet access (HSPA),Z-Wave, Zigbee and other 802.XX wireless technologies and/or legacytelecommunication technologies.

Systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage media for facilitatinga two-stage downlink control channel for 5G systems are provided herein.Legacy wireless systems such as LTE, Long-Term Evolution Advanced(LTE-A), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) etc. use fixed modulationformat for downlink control channels. Fixed modulation format impliesthat the downlink control channel format is always encoded with a singletype of modulation (e.g., quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK)) and hasa fixed code rate. Moreover, the forward error correction (FEC) encoderuses a single, fixed mother code rate of 1/3 with rate matching. Thisdesign does not take into the account channel statistics. For example,if the channel from the BS device to the mobile device is very good, thecontrol channel cannot use this information to adjust the modulation,code rate, thereby unnecessarily allocating power on the controlchannel. Similarly, if the channel from the BS to the mobile device ispoor, then there is a probability that the mobile device might not ableto decode the information received with only the fixed modulation andcode rate. As used herein, the term “infer” or “inference” refersgenerally to the process of reasoning about, or inferring states of, thesystem, environment, user, and/or intent from a set of observations ascaptured via events and/or data. Captured data and events can includeuser data, device data, environment data, data from sensors, sensordata, application data, implicit data, explicit data, etc. Inference canbe employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states of interest based on aconsideration of data and events, for example.

Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composinghigher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inferenceresults in the construction of new events or actions from a set ofobserved events and/or stored event data, whether the events arecorrelated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and datacome from one or several event and data sources. Various classificationschemes and/or systems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks,expert systems, Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, and data fusionengines) can be employed in connection with performing automatic and/orinferred action in connection with the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, machine-readable device, computer-readablecarrier, computer-readable media, machine-readable media,computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage/communication media. Forexample, computer-readable media can comprise, but are not limited to, amagnetic storage device, e.g., hard disk; floppy disk; magneticstrip(s); an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), a digital video disc(DVD), a Blu-ray Disc™ (BD)); a smart card; a flash memory device (e.g.,card, stick, key drive); and/or a virtual device that emulates a storagedevice and/or any of the above computer-readable media. Of course, thoseskilled in the art will recognize many modifications can be made to thisconfiguration without departing from the scope or spirit of the variousembodiments

The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subjectdisclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the preciseforms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are describedherein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possiblethat are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples,as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.

In this regard, while the subject matter has been described herein inconnection with various embodiments and corresponding figures, whereapplicable, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can beused or modifications and additions can be made to the describedembodiments for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitutefunction of the disclosed subject matter without deviating therefrom.Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to anysingle embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed inbreadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a processor; and a memorythat stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: determininga redundancy version state of redundancy version states to be utilizedin connection with a data transmission based on a characteristicassociated with a device, wherein the characteristic relates to athreshold value determined to be utilized with respect to an estimationof channel state information associated with the device; and in responseto the determining the redundancy version state, communicating, to thedevice, a signal that indicates the redundancy version state to beutilized in connection with the data transmission.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the redundancy version state indicates a number ofredundancy versions to be utilized in connection with the datatransmission, wherein the redundancy version states comprise a singleredundancy version state and a multiple redundancy versions state,wherein the single redundancy version state is associated withutilization of a single redundancy version in connection with the datatransmission, and wherein the multiple redundancy versions state isassociated with utilization of multiple redundancy versions inconnection with the data transmission.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe threshold value is a lower threshold value or a higher thresholdvalue that is higher than the lower threshold value, and wherein theredundancy version states comprise a single redundancy version state anda multiple redundancy versions state.
 4. The system of claim 3, whereinthe determining of the redundancy version state of the redundancyversion states to be utilized in connection with the data transmissionbased on the characteristic associated with the device comprises: inresponse to the threshold value associated with the estimation of thechannel state information associated with the device being determined tobe the lower threshold value, determining that the single redundancyversion state is to be utilized in connection with the datatransmission, in accordance with a defined overhead managementcriterion.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the lower threshold valueindicates a sufficiently high probability that the data transmissionwill be able to be completed without re-transmission of data packets ofthe data transmission, and wherein the sufficiently high probabilitysatisfies the defined overhead management criterion.
 6. The system ofclaim 3, wherein the determining of the redundancy version state of theredundancy version states to be utilized in connection with the datatransmission based on the characteristic associated with the devicecomprises: in response to the threshold value associated with theestimation of the channel state information associated with the devicebeing determined to be the higher threshold value, determining that amultiple redundancy version state of the multiple redundancy versionstates is to be utilized in connection with the data transmission, inaccordance with a defined overhead management criterion.
 7. The systemof claim 6, wherein the higher threshold value indicates a sufficientlyhigh probability that re-transmission of data packets of the datatransmission will have to be performed to complete the datatransmission, and wherein the sufficiently high probability satisfiesthe defined overhead management criterion.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the determining of the redundancy version state of theredundancy version states to be utilized in connection with the datatransmission based on the characteristic associated with the devicecomprises: determining the redundancy version state of the redundancyversion states to be utilized in connection with the data transmissionbased on at least two characteristics of a group of characteristics,wherein the group of characteristics comprises the threshold valuedetermined to be utilized with respect to the estimation of the channelstate information associated with the device, a speed metric associatedwith the device, a Doppler metric associated with the device, a type ofservice associated with the device, historicalhybrid-automatic-repeat-request data associated with the device, and acapability of the device relating to a number of redundancy versionssupported by the device.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the type ofservice associated with the device is one of types of services that aresupported by the device, and wherein the types of services comprise anenhanced mobile broadband service, an ultra reliable low latencycommunication service, or a massive machine type of communicationservice.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the redundancy version stateis a single redundancy version state associated with utilization of asingle redundancy version in connection with the data transmission tofacilitate a reduction in an amount of control information communicatedvia a control channel associated with the device in connection with thedata transmission.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein, in accordancewith the single redundancy version state, a redundancy version value isnot included in the control information communicated via the controlchannel to the device to reduce the amount of the control informationcommunicated via the control channel.
 12. The system of claim 1, whereinthe signal comprises a radio resource control message that indicates, tothe device, the redundancy version state that is to be utilized inconnection with the data transmission.
 13. A method, comprising:determining, by a system comprising a processor, a redundancy versionstate of a group of redundancy version states to be utilized inconnection with a data transmission based on a characteristic associatedwith a device, wherein the characteristic relates to a threshold valuedetermined to be implemented with regard to an estimation of channelstate information associated with the device; and in response to thedetermining the redundancy version state, facilitating, by the system,transmitting a control signal to the device, wherein the control signalindicates, to the device, the redundancy version state to be utilized inconnection with the data transmission.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the redundancy version state indicates a number of redundancyversions to be utilized in connection with the data transmission,wherein the group of redundancy version states comprises a singleredundancy version state and a multiple redundancy versions state,wherein the single redundancy version state is associated withutilization of a single redundancy version in connection with the datatransmission, and wherein the multiple redundancy versions state isassociated with utilization of multiple redundancy versions inconnection with the data transmission.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein the threshold value is a smaller threshold value or a largerthreshold value that is larger than the smaller threshold value, andwherein the group of redundancy version states comprises a singleredundancy version state and a multiple redundancy versions state. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the determining of the redundancyversion state of the group of redundancy version states comprises: inresponse to the threshold value associated with the estimation of thechannel state information associated with the device being determined tobe the smaller threshold value, determining that the single redundancyversion state is to be utilized in connection with the datatransmission, wherein the smaller threshold value indicates asufficiently high likelihood that the data transmission will be able tobe completed without re-transmission of data packets of the datatransmission, and wherein the sufficiently high likelihood satisfies adefined overhead management criterion.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein the determining of the redundancy version state of the group ofredundancy version states comprises: in response to the threshold valueassociated with the estimation of the channel state informationassociated with the device being determined to be the larger thresholdvalue, determining that a multiple redundancy version state of themultiple redundancy version states is to be utilized in connection withthe data transmission, wherein the larger threshold value indicates asufficiently high likelihood that re-transmission of data packets of thedata transmission will have to be performed to complete the datatransmission, and wherein the sufficiently high likelihood satisfies adefined overhead management criterion.
 18. The method of claim 13,wherein the redundancy version state is a single redundancy versionstate associated with utilization of a single redundancy version inconnection with the data transmission, and wherein, in accordance withthe single redundancy version state, redundancy version data is notincluded in control data transmitted via a control channel to the devicein connection with the data transmission to reduce an amount of thecontrol data transmitted via the control channel to the device inconnection with the data transmission.
 19. A non-transitorymachine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, theoperations comprising: determining a redundancy version state ofredundancy version states to be utilized with regard to a datatransmission associated with user equipment based on an attribute thatrelates to a threshold value configured for use in connection with anestimation of channel state information associated with the userequipment; and based on the determining of the redundancy version state,transmitting a control signal to the user equipment, wherein the controlsignal indicates the redundancy version state to be utilized inconnection with the data transmission.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the threshold value is alower threshold value or a higher threshold value that is higher thanthe lower threshold value, wherein the redundancy version statescomprise a single redundancy version state and a multiple redundancyversions state, and wherein the determining of the redundancy versionstate of the redundancy version states comprises: one of: in response tothe threshold value associated with the estimation of the channel stateinformation associated with the user equipment being determined to bethe lower threshold value, determining that the single redundancyversion state is to be utilized with regard to the data transmission, inaccordance with a defined overhead management criterion; or in responseto the threshold value associated with the estimation of the channelstate information associated with the user equipment being determined tobe the higher threshold value, determining that a multiple redundancyversion state of the multiple redundancy version states is to beutilized with regard to the data transmission, in accordance with thedefined overhead management criterion.